food sandwiched between hospital and home life

05/20/201805/19/2018

Cauliflower cheese plus!

A real comfort food. Combining macaroni cheese with cauliflower cheese and bunch of other veg. In addition, I’ve used the very popular option of substituting the flour and butter based sauce with creme fraiche,

Ingredients

1 pack (about 400g) of mixed cauliflower and broccoli florets (obviously you can use part of a whole one instead). Break the florets of both into bite sized pieces.

2 carrots, peeled and diced

200g dried pasta (I used Napolina Conchiglie)

Edamame beans (I used the Yutaka frozen ones)

300mls of Creme Fraiche light / reduces fat

1 teaspoon English mustard powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

250g mature cheddar (grated)

125g ball of mozzarella- chopped up

60g Parmesan cheese

100g of bread – I used a seeded pain ancient

Olive oil

Method

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the pasta, after about 5 minutes add the chopped carrots, about 3mins before the pasta is cooked add the florets of broccoli and cauliflower. In the final minute add the edamame beans. Drain the whole lot through a colander (reserving a mug of the pasta water) and set aside.

Return the large pan to a low heat and add the creme fraiche and about the same amount again of the pasta water, bring to a gentle simmer and add the cayenne pepper and mustard powder and mix well. Next add the cheeses and stir well. Then add the drained pasta and vegetables and stir to coat everything. Remove from the heat and turn into an ovenproof dish.

Put the bread, the Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil into a food processor and blitz to obtain some bigger chunks and some fine breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this mixture over the pasta and place the dish in an oven set at 160c (fan assisted) for about 20mins until the breadcrumbs are golden and the liquid is bubbling.

I served this with a green salad and balsamic dressing and a little garlic bread.